US golf legend Tiger Woods was recovering in hospital on Thursday after surgery for serious leg injuries sustained in a car crash that have raised fears for the 45-year-old’s career.

Woods underwent surgery to repair “significant orthopedic injuries” to his lower right leg and ankle, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center chief medical officer Anish Mahajan said.

Woods has had three procedures on his knee too during a career that has also seen him bounce back from high-profile scandal in his personal life.

In 2019, he completed an astonishing comeback from four back operations between 2014 and 2017 to win the Masters, his first major title since 2008.

News of his latest injuries has cast doubt on Woods’s ability to compete at the top level again.

“He’s not Superman,” four-time major champion Rory McIlroy said ahead of a tournament in Florida Wednesday.

“He’s a human being at the end of the day. And he’s already been through so much.

“At this stage I think everyone should just be grateful that he’s here, that he’s alive, that his kids haven’t lost their dad,” added the Northern Irishman.

World number four Xander Schauffele described the “somber” mood on the practice greens ahead of the World Golf Championships Workday Championship in Florida.

Six-time major winner Nick Faldo said he thought it would be “quite extraordinary” if Woods completes another comeback.

The Englishman added that Woods would first have to focus on rebuilding his body and that playing competitively “is possibly a long way down the line.”

Faldo said Woods’s age made it even more difficult.

“It’s tough enough playing at 45 when you’re playing against kids that are 25,” Faldo told CBS.

World number one Dustin Johnson tweeted that he was wishing Tiger “a quick recovery and a Ben Hogan style comeback.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s TW,” he wrote.

Hogan famously won six of his nine major titles after almost being killed in a car crash in 1949 at age 36.

Woods’s crash occurred on a steep stretch of road known as an accident hotspot. He was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Villanueva repeated Wednesday.

Agencies